INFORMATIONAL

TO:

Division Superintendents

FROM:

Richard T. La Pointe
Superintendent of Public Instruction

SUBJECT:

Social Studies Teachers' Seminar in Israel

The Virginia Department of Education, with Old Dominion
University, announces its 1998 Social Studies Teachers'
Study Seminar in Israel. This program offers middle and
high school teachers and administrators a unique opportunity
to focus on Virginia's History and Social Science Standards
of Learning through on-site lectures and classroom
observations in Israel. Besides school visits, seminar
participants will attend talks arranged by the Israeli
Ministry of Education, visit historic sites, and travel to
Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and Tel Aviv. The seminar
will concentrate on four major themes in the History and
Social Science Standards of Learning: ancient
civilizations, major religions, the Holocaust, and modern
Middle Eastern politics and geography. Given the new
Standards of Learning, teachers will return to Virginia's
school divisions with fresh insights to carry out a
demanding curricula.
The Virginia study seminar is a ten-day trip scheduled to
leave the United States on May 1, 1998 and return on May 10,
1998. Fifteen middle and/or high school teachers and
administrators will be selected to travel as representatives
of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Applicants must obtain
permission from their school division and complete an
application form to be eligible for the study seminar. An
announcement of the seminar and an application form will be
mailed to all social studies contact persons in January.
All finalists must be available for an interview on March
14, if needed. Selected participants must agree to attend
two one-day training seminars in Richmond before the
departure date. The training seminars are scheduled for
March 21 and April 19 and provide essential orientation and
background materials for the trip.
The costs to participants will be approximately $1,950 per
person. Some scholarships may be available. Costs may vary
slightly because negotiations for meals and lodging have not
been completed.
Thank you for your support of the study seminar. If you have
questions regarding this program, please do not hesitate to
contact Dr. Beverly Thurston, Specialist for History and
Social Sciences, at (804) 225-2893.
RTL/bt